The Beatles or Elvis Presley. Debergs prog rock thread started me thinking and I thought it was a fairly easy choice until I talked to a few others about it and looked up some numbers. Now it seems like a toss up... although I know what my original gut feeling was.

The Beatles...
Best selling band in history... roughly 1 billion 600 million units sold
22 #1 singles world wide
7 grammys
10 films

I bought this "Storytellers VH1" CD at Goodwill and ended up loving it. One of the songs is Elvis Costello. I think it's called, "just a memory," but I'm not sure. The chorus goes, "losing you, is just a memory, memories don't mean that much to me." I scream that song at the top of my longs when I hear it. And ya know what? That is the only Elvis Costello song I've ever heard. I want to check out more of it. Which songs/albums do I start with?

Well sir.. you have come to the right place!

Here is the problem.. Elvis Costello has done it all. His music spans so many different styles and genres that it's hard to just say "start here." BUT at least we have a starting point with "Just a Memory." That came from Get Happy! his 4th album. That song is slower than the typical songs on that album. So if you want that style, you will want to go forward in time with his work rather than going back. That style is closer (imho) to Trust or what is often considered the greatest EC album (produced by Geoff Emerick) Imperial Bedroom.

If you want I can suggest some favorite songs and see if they are on YouTube. Oh, another good "starter" album I have found is King of America. it really defines the "middle" of his career for me and is just a damn good album.

yep, and Gordon Lightfoot and Elvis Costello and here is an obscure one.. but they were MASSIVELY influential.. The Kingston trio.

EDIT: I just saw you mentioned Phil Spector.. I have been harping on him all thread. Crazy amount of influence and innovation from him.

Surprised that no one has mentioned Zappa or Captain Beefheart.

I've noticed that a lot of musicians mention David Bowie as being influential. Fred Neil is another one. Heck, he wrote the original "Everybody's Talking" popularized by Nilsson. Totally awesome. His most popular song is probably the song that played on the Sopranos when Chris relapsed at a carnival setting. Song is called "The Dolphins." Good shit.

Jeff Buckley is a semi-recent obscure musician that I notice many artists reference as being influential. Most notably Thom Yorke. I heard that he was one of the contributing factors that prompted Radiohead to move on from their "Pablo Honey" sound in terms of vocals. Many hardcore Buckley fans claim that you can notice Yorke channeling Buckley in Kid A.

Noticed that there are a lot of connections with the bands I have mentioned in this thread:

Nilsson: worked with John Lennon and when the members of the Beatles were asked who their favorite American musician was, one or more of them instantly replied, "Nilsson." Nilsson covered a Fred Neil Song called "Everybody's Talking." Bob Dylan, before becoming Bob Dylan, played harmonica for Fred Neil. Jeff Buckley's father, (Tim), covered "The Dolphins." Stone Temple Pilots front man has mentioned David Bowie being his most prominent musical influence. Same with Trent Reznor (my all time favorite musician). David Bowie mentioned Jeff Buckley's "Grace" album as 1 of 5 he would choose to have with him on a deserted island. Thom Yorke reportedly is a huge fan of Buckley and has been accused of channeling him. Scott Weiland is a huge Radiohead fan....claimed that the OK Computer album was contributory in getting him through one of his rehab stints.

Another band that I've noticed referenced as being influential to other artists: Joy Division.

Here is "The Dolphins" by Fred Neil. Great song. Obscure as hell. Below it is the original version of "Everybody's Talkin'."

Temple of the Dog included members of Mother Love Bone (Jeff Ament and Stone Gossage), Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden and their friend, Mike McCready. The record was recorded in eight days, over the course of four weekends.

I have a long winded story about Eddie Vedder/Scott Weiland, both of which originated from the same band/guitarist/visionary from San Diego. It was no coincidence that they initially sounded the "same" back in 1992...

I've seen the Vedder/Weiland debate quite a few times.... many people debating back and forth whether or not Weiland ripped Vedder's vocal style. I am glad Weiland started mixing it up on "Purple." Heck, one of my favorite all time songs is a very, very obscure song by STP on the under-appreciated No. 4 album called, "I Got You." I think everything about that song is just...amazing...I absolutely love the lyrics to that song.

Here is the problem.. Elvis Costello has done it all. His music spans so many different styles and genres that it's hard to just say "start here." BUT at least we have a starting point with "Just a Memory." That came from Get Happy! his 4th album. That song is slower than the typical songs on that album. So if you want that style, you will want to go forward in time with his work rather than going back. That style is closer (imho) to Trust or what is often considered the greatest EC album (produced by Geoff Emerick) Imperial Bedroom.

If you want I can suggest some favorite songs and see if they are on YouTube. Oh, another good "starter" album I have found is King of America. it really defines the "middle" of his career for me and is just a damn good album.

Let me know if you want darker, or more melodic, or more upbeat... I can steer ya in the right direction!

The more I think about it, this album or Trust or Armed Forces really should be decent starting points.. unless you want the REALLY raw (by raw I mean emotionally not musically) stuff... then we'd want to try out the first two albums.

Let me know if you want darker, or more melodic, or more upbeat... I can steer ya in the right direction!

The more I think about it, this album or Trust or Armed Forces really should be decent starting points.. unless you want the REALLY raw (by raw I mean emotionally not musically) stuff... then we'd want to try out the first two albums.

Both vids = awesome. I am now listening to some more of his songs on youtube.

Ok now here are some of my favorite official VIDEOS of his. (I include liner notes where I could find them)

The Other Side of Summer -1991

Quote:

This album opens with “The Other Side Of Summer”. The arrangement is a pastiche of The Beach Boys after the fashion of The Beatles’ “Back IN The U.S.S.R.” In our case, the music and vocal parts take their cue from some of their early ‘70s album tracks like “The Trader” and “Funky Pretty”. The words are a catalogue of pop conceits, deceits, hypocrisies, and delusions. I include myself in this parade of liars and dupes.

Good Year for the Roses(originally a hit for George Jones, but Costello NAILS it and it remains one of my favorite performances.) - 1981

Quote:

The video for “Good Year For The Roses” was filmed the day before the Aberdeen gig at Meldrum House, a National Trust listed building that accepted guests. The people running the place were adamant that we couldn’t drag an organ or piano into the wooden-floored salon in which we had chosen to film. This meant that Steve Nieve had nothing to play. The only solution was for him to mime the string parts with a violin, an instrument that Steve had probably never held in his life. Only we didn’t have a violin. The rather spooking girls miming the backing vocals were the daughters of the music teacher from the local village who lent us the violin that Mr. Nieve is seen playing.
Perhaps the charm or sheer weirdness of this clip helped make a big hit single out of “Roses”, reaching No. 6 in the U.K. charts and becoming one of the most played records of the year. I found myself approached in supermarkets by what I then regarded as “older women” who thought that the record was “very romantic”.

OK Finally, I challenge you not to get a little choked up watching this last one...

Veronica -1989

Quote:

I began writing with Paul McCartney, for his album "Flowers in the Dirt", in 1987. We went on to compose a dozen songs together. "Veronica" was one of the very first songs that we worked on. It is a wishful song about my Grandmother’s failing hold on memory and reality. As the subject was so personal, I didn't find it so easy to edit the song. Paul put some shape into the music of a rambling bridge and tightened up a few of the lyrical lines in the verses.

Elvis had a singular talent for singing, dancing, and being a heart throb.

The Beatles had those as well, with talents for writing, philosophy, longevity and evolution of style in addition.

Elvis revolutionized by bringing rockabilly and gospel to the national stage, but the Beatles blew the music scene to smithereens, and seeped into the national conversation on all fronts, philosophical, political, fashion-wise, etc.

Having been there for both, it has to be Elvis. Elvis was like nothing most of us had ever seen. That's not to take anything away from the Beatles, but if it wasn't for Elvis, there wouldn't have been mainstream rock and roll. Even though Ed Sullivan wouldn't televise him below the waist, we all knew it was cool. The Bealtes did not write their early hits, they were covers of Bo Diddley. Chuck Berry, etc.
The Beatles became a huge influence. They wrote most of their songs, something most artists didn't do. They wrote songs of love and peace in a time many of us were questioning the values of Eisenhower America (and I know LBJ was President when they hit the States). But those songs came later.